Motorola Starts Android 4.4 KitKat Soak Test for AT&T Moto X

Motorola isn’t messing around with updating their flagship Moto X. They were one of the first device manufacturers to give upgrade plans for Android 4.4 KitKat, and have said that updates will be coming “within and matter of weeks.“

It would seem that AT&T users are next in line, with soak test invites going out now to a very small group of Moto X users. Droid-Life is reporting that the soak test devices will be receiving the update starting on November 22, and that if all goes well, the update will push out to all Moto X users on AT&T in early December.

It’s almost unheard for Verizon and AT&T get updates out this fast, faster even than the Google Experience devices. Motorola must be very serious about working with the carriers to get this update approved and I certainly hope it’s a good sign of things to come, both from future Motorola devices, and from the whole carrier update practice.

Kit Kat will be a nice update for Moto X users, bringing features like immersive mode for books and movies, improved multitasking, smart dialer with Google Caller ID, home screen switching, Google Cloud Print built-in, and emoji in the keyboard. There are also lots of under-the-hood changes with Kit Kat, like secure app sandboxing, that users may not notice, but are welcome improvements nonetheless.

One of the more interesting features of KitKat was bringing tap-to-pay to devices without secure elements, thus making Google Wallet available to more devices. This will be the first official AT&T branded device to get the update, and although I suspect Google Wallet will still be blocked, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Perhaps side-loading the app will be easier now for users who really want it.

If you’re a Moto X user on AT&T, feel free to get excited, it looks like Kit Kat will be coming your way next month!